AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program

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FACTS OF THE CASE:

On 1 June 2004, Chinese military and security officials arrested Dr. Jiang Yanyong, a medical doctor in Beijing. Dr. Jiang became an international figure in the spring of 2004 when he publicly exposed information about the numbers of cases of people suffering from Several Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in China. At that time, the Ministry of Health had only officially admitted to 19 cases of SARS in Beijing. Dr. Jiang released a report stating that there were at least 170 known cases. His whistleblowing report forced the government to admit to the extent of the epidemic in China and to step up their public health response.

After the incident of the leaked report, Chinese authorities began surveillance of Dr. Jiang's house and monitored his communications. Political dissidents in China are routinely imprisoned and there was some fear that Dr. Jiang would also be arrested. Instead, the state-run press began to publish articles about him, eventually lauding him for his honesty and courage for speaking the truth about the SARS outbreak.

In February 2004, Dr. Jiang felt that he had built up enough political capital to urge the government to take responsibility for 1989 assault on the student-led demonstrations in Tiananmen Square. The 15 year anniversary of the incident was on 4 June 2004. Dr. Jiang's letter detailed the suffering inflicted on the civilians he had treated at the No. 301 Hospital, where he was the chief of surgery. Friends and colleagues urged him not to send the letter for fear that the government would take retaliatory action against the aging doctor. Despite admitting responsibility for some of the violence and excessive force of some policies in China's past, including the Cultural Revolution, the Chinese government has steadfastly refused to admit wrongdoing in the Tiananmen Square massacre. It is still a topic that enflames the government and many activists have been imprisoned for suggesting that the government was wrong in pursuing its violent reaction to a peaceful, student-led, pro-democracy protest.

After his letter was leaked to the press, the authorities tightened surveillance of Dr. Jiang and monitored his every action. On 1 June 2004, Dr. Jiang and his wife, Hua Zhongwie, traveled to the U.S. embassy to apply for a visa to visit their daughter in California. On the way to the embassy, his hired car broke down and the driver requested that they enter another van with a different driver. After settling into the second car, they continued on. Before reaching the embassy, several men stopped the second car and pulled Dr. Jiang and his wife and into an armored vehicle with iron bars. They were taken to a security facility.

There have been different officially reported justifications for the arrest. The government has said that as a soldier, Dr. Jiang has violated regulations regarding military discipline. Dr. Jiang was a surgeon in the People's Liberation Army. Another official stated that Dr. Jiang was arrested for "not being consistent with the party's Central Committee."

Fifteen days later, Hua was released after the media broadcast interviews with the couple's children. After her release, Hua reportedly requested that her children not speak to reporters as she was told that her husband's fate was dependent on the family's silence about the arrest. However, international pressure has been steadily building to publicize the arrest and to push the government to release the 72-year-old doctor.

(Sources of information for this case include: Human Rights Watch and the Washington Post.)

RELEVANT HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

• Article 19(1): Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference.
• Article 13: An alien lawfully in the territory of a State Party to the present Covenant may be expelled therefrom only in pursuance of a decision reached in accordance with law and shall, except where compelling reasons of national security otherwise require, be allowed to submit the reasons against his expulsion and to have his case reviewed by, and be represented for the purpose before, the competent authority or a person or persons especially designated by the competent authority.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• Article 19: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Please send faxes, letters, or emails:

• Urging the government to immediately and unconditionally release Dr. Jiang Yanyong as it appears that he has been detained solely for the peaceful exercise of his internationally recognized freedom of expression.

APPEAL AND INQUIRY MESSAGES SHOULD BE SENT TO:

HU Jintao Guojia Zhuxi
President of the People's Republic of China
Yongneixijie
Beijingshi 100017
People's Republic of China
Salutation: Your Excellency:

WEN Jiabao Zongli
Premier of the People's Republic of China
Guowuyuan
9 Xihuang Chenggen Beijie
Beijingshi 100032
People's Republic of China
Salutation: Your Excellency

COPIES SENT TO:

Ambassador Jiechi Yang
Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the United States
Embassy of the People's Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 328 2582
Salutation: Dear Mr. Ambassador

Please send copies of your appeals, and any responses you may receive, or direct any questions you may have to Victoria Baxter, AAAS Science and Human Rights Program, 1200 New York Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20005; tel. 202-326-6797; email vbaxter@aaas.org; or fax 202-289-4950.

The keys to effective appeals are to be courteous and respectful, accurate and precise, impartial in approach, and as specific as possible regarding the alleged violation and the international human rights standards and instruments that apply to the situation. Reference to your scientific organization and professional affiliation is always helpful.

To ensure that appeals are current and credible, please do not continue to write appeals on this case after 90 days from the date of the posting unless an update has been issued.

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